George Lazaridis () (European Patent Office - EPO, München.) Bruno Van Pottelsberghe () (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels)
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The EPO traditionally grants at least 60% of all patent applications, the rest being either withdrawn (30-35 %) or refused (5%). This paper provides quantitative evidence suggesting that up to 54% of all patent withdrawals could be considered as induced by the work of EPO examiners, and hence may be taken as a more appropriate indicator of the rigour of the EPO. “Induced withdrawals” and refusals occur for up to 23% of all applications at the EPO. This share varies according to 1) the route chosen for an EPO filing; 2) the technological field that is considered; and 3) the country of residence of the assignee. The number of claims only slightly affects the share of withdrawals. However, on average, two additional claims induce an additional communication from the EPO, which in turn prolongs the procedural duration by an additional year.
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Paper provided by Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB) in its series Working Papers CEB with number
07-007.RS.
Find related papers by JEL classification: K1 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law K3 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance O3 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Bruno van Pottelsberghe & Didier François, 2006.
"The Cost Factor in Patent Systems,"
Working Papers CEB
06-002.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB).
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